Internal memo circulated highlights "zero-tolerance" policy
Multiple media outlets have reported that news giant CNN has fired three employees for going to the office despite being unvaccinated. Those employees have yet to be named and CNN has not currently offered any further details on the terminations.
Reuters and The Associated Press report that a memo sent internally to staff on Thursday shared that the three workers had been terminated, and that CNN Worldwide President Jeff Zucker told employees that the media company had a zero tolerance policy in cases like these.
The memo’s contents were first tweeted by CNN media reporter Oliver Darcy, revealing Zucker’s words:
“In the past week, we have been made aware of three employees who were coming to the office unvaccinated. All three have been terminated. Let me be clear -- we have a zero-tolerance policy on this,” Tweeted Darcy.
CNN’s offices are currently open, reportedly only for employees that have been fully vaccinated. Vaccines are also mandatory for reporters working in the field and those working with other employees.
With the resurgence of COVID-19 in the U.S. – notably among unvaccinated people – it seems that more and more companies are willing to take a hardline stance after months of back and forth over whether vaccines should be mandatory.
Large organizations such as Facebook and Google have also indicated that they would require employees to be fully vaccinated once their offices start re-opening.
In May this year the U.S. government said that it was now legal for employers to require that staff going into the workplace in person be vaccinated.
And it seems that this may be a trend moving forward as the more contagious Delta variant continues to spread. Earlier on Friday, The Associated Press reported that California would be requiring all of its 2.2 million health care and long term care workers to be fully vaccinated by September 30.
